3 Ways to Build a Top Rope Climbing Anchor

Bobby shows his favorite ways to build a top rope anchor on 2 bolts.
4 things to consider: Is your anchor - Strong, Solid, Secure and Redundant. Also, try to make your anchor efficient and equalized, with an angle of less than 90 degrees.

The following anchors can be tied with variations of the overhand knot:
Method 1: Limited sliding X
Method 2: BFK
Method 3: Quad Anchor

➜➜➜The other episodes we referenced

00:00 2 Bolt Anchor
01:04 4 things to consider
04:38 How NOT to do it
05:48 Gear you need
10:36 Method 1: Sliding X
13:12 Method 2: BFK
14:17 Method 3: Quad Anchor
16:19 Method 4: 2 Quickdraws
17:34 Setting up the rope
18:41 Time to Top Rope

[philippfinke]

I really love that the German word "Halbmastwurfsicherung" (HMS) is used internationally.

[lolcat]

Only thing I think you guys left out was when Bobby was flaking the rope he let the ends get all the way down and just had the bight in his one hand. I normally just tie a quick overhand knot about 2 feet below the middle bight to make a loop. I clip that loop to my harness, put the middle bight in the 2 locking Ds, unclip the overhand loop and untie the overhand knot. I've seen people throw the whole rope over, on tall climbs the rope can get heavy and you can easily drop the rope. Just a nice backup and takes an additional 10 seconds.

[monkeykoder]

I've been the guy getting my friends into climbing. I've set a few dozen top rope anchors. I would have changed a lot had I watched this first. This is great content. Would love to climb with Bobby.

[YnseSchaap]

Very clear video 😁 been climbing for over 25 years and I see so many mistakes made doing this

[lleberghappy]

Really nice video!
The third quad really makes sense.
I would love some "this is how you rapell down on your new anchor", since rapelling is quite dangerous if done incorrectly. Rapelling down is both fun and let's you inspect the route.

[acondi]

the intro is like an optical illusion I literally can’t figure out where you are sitting/what’s around you lol

[hans]

love how you are the gear nerd, and that bobby is your gear nerd

[theclimbingleek]

Awesome! I am still happy to see that Bobby is doing well again 💪

Thanks for those videos!

[lucasobasso]

You're awesome Bobby! Greetings from Brazil.

[norisordepraf]

Awesome video. Thank you again for explaining why you should place your gear a certain way, plus points for the explanation about force bearing involving placing the HMS and D-Shaped carabiner. And Ryan, love your jokes!

[Hendershot]

I freaking love Bobby, man! I’m glad he’s doing well now!! And just as glad to hear what he has to teach!!!

[GretaGeliz]

Looks like CRG. Was there last weekend and the water is super high right now. Someone currently has a high line and tag lines stretched across it.
Appreciated the discussion on different carabiners!

[krishna-qfyr]

We use he second method you showed. Third method you showed with 4 strands seems more secure we will use that in our next climb . Thanks

[Fgseitezyk]

This is seriously the coolest video on YouTube about the top rope anchors! 👏👏👏

[ikercasadosmendez]

Loved the accurate remark saying United States, North America.. and not just America.. people should learn haha... Also, great video!

[Davidadventures]

Many climbers have ropes that have been chopped. I use these old rope segments to create top rope anchors. Most of the time, especially at places in the video, we can walk up to the anchor and rig. Often, I have 10 people climbing on the same anchor and having the peace of mind that the anchor is made of the same material as the rope they are climbing with is worth it. A couple years ago, I was climbing at Remillard in the Oakland hills. Fortunately, I had used an old climbing rope section to rig the climb. At the end of the day, I returned to look at the rigging and saw that the rope had been shredded by the rock. The sheath was completely cut away but the core was generally intact. Had I used a dynema sling, someone would have taken a ground fall. If you are climbing the same climb, with a group of friends, I strongly recommend using something beefier than a dynema sling. If it's just you and your buddy and you will switch routes occasionally through the day, such a sling is fine. As Bobby said, the dynema sling is plenty strong when it is NEW.

[AkashMenon]

While toproping outdoors I also always ask everyone to leave a Quickdraw in place at the last bolt before the anchor (so when leading but can also do the same while lowering down from the top of a route).

Only remove that when cleaning the route so if you have anchor failure, you might take a bigger fall but atleast not to the ground as you're protected by another bolt. Maybe its a useful tip for anyone!

[maxh]

Everybody always says to "like and subscribe" at the beginning of a video. Although, I will give you props for being unique with your ask at 0:40; saying we can always undo it later if we don't like the video. Innocent until proven guilty. Touché. You gained a sub and a like today.

[joshkornblum]

17:38 - HowNOT2 knows, but for others that do not, it's good to tie some type of barrel/stopper knot when rappelling at the end of the rope. I clip a bite of rope near the middle-point to the anchor before tossing it down as to not drop it. I'm clumsy like that. lol.

[arishtat]

Most of the time, that is to say on good, solid anchors, I use my anchor quickdraws which have extra long dogbones and locking biners. The biners are also different color so that I always use the same biners on the rope side. Bolts tend to wear the biners a little. Often the anchor bolts are not parallel so my setup is not self-balancing, but they are close enough so that the angle is acceptable. And the height difference between the bolts is short enough so as not to create much of a shockload in case one side fails. The main advantage is conveniance. It's really quick to set up and tear down, no knots to untie. Thoughts?